There's an interesting set of posts from PHP community members Adam Culp and Cal Evans each on a similar subject centering around conferences and the presentations made at them. They both wonder if talks are getting too "soft" and not focusing as much on the technology and getting in-depth as they should be. From Cal:

PHP conferences are changing very slowly, and not in a way that I like. I blame myself. As a frequent speaker I am getting lazy. I get caught up in the excitement of the CfP, I write up 5-10 abstracts and shotgun them into the CfP system hoping that something hits the mark. I've not actually written these talks. In most cases, I'm pretty sure I can get 45 minutes on the topic, but I don't know for sure because I've not bothered to write it yet. Adam Culp talks about this very thing in his post "Are Conference Talks Getting Too Soft?".

Adam points out that, while introductory talks and overviews are acceptable level coverage for someone new to the speaking scene (or development), the trend seems to be that everyone is providing less "meat" in their talks.

It is hard to teach a great amount in a 1 hour talk, but if there is not some immediately usable content an attendee will have a tough time proving to their short sighted boss that it was worth their time.

Both Adam and Cal set out a challenge, both to themselves and other speakers in the community. They encourage you to spend more time with your subjects, get in-depth into the topics, present on what you're excited about and maybe even try them out locally first.

Matthew Setter was encouraged by some recent conversations and conference sessions about getting out into the PHP community and taking up presenting at conferences. In his latest post he talks about some of these conversations and his ideas moving forward.

[The PHP UK Conference 2015] was an especially meaningful conference for me, as the opening keynote, by @coderabbi, moved me to take more action, more serious, dedicated, and focused action than I've taken to date. [...] I sat there thinking "WOW, I'm really a part of the community". I also started thinking I want to contribute more, and build a profile just as big as his, and many of the others at the conference. So what to do?

He talks about the encouragement from others he's gotten to get up and present at a conference and the feedback he's gotten on his (unfortunately so far) rejected submissions. He's renewing his effort, though and has plans to document his progress via a "pseudo-journal" during his journey to hopefully serve as a guide to others wanting to share their knowledge with the community. He talks some about his plan moving forward and the work he's doing on the public speaking side to improve his skills.

While not for everyone, speaking at conferences is a great way to share experience, information and start conversations about new technology. If you've ever thought about making the move, follow Matthew's journey or check out theseotherarticles to help you get started.

Cal and Adam talk some about the event, how Adam thought it went and how strong the schedule was with great sessions. They also talk about how Sunshine PHP uses themes in their event (this year's was "teams"). They end the episode talking about what Adam learned from this year's event and the diversity of the crowd.

Today both the Laracon.us and Laracon.eu conference sites have been launched. Both sharing the same style of branding and logo. The US conference will be held in Kentucky on August 11-12, and the EU in Amsterdam on August 25-26. Early bird pricing is available for both and the speaker lineup will be announced at a later time.

The Early Bird tickets for each even come in at just a bit over $300 USD and no schedules have been posted, but that's a great price for either of these two-day events. Each site also has links to subscribe to a mailing list related to the event so you can get the latest updates as they're released.

The Seattle PHP User Group has decided to follow along with the example set by many other PHP user groups in the past several years. They have officially announced the Pacific Northwest PHP Conference and a Kickstarter campaign to help raise the funding to help make it a reality.

The Seattle PHP User Group (SeaPHP) has been around for over 10 years. We love PHP, and we want to build up our local PHP community even further by hosting a PHP developer conference here in Seattle-the technology hub of the Pacific Northwest and cloud computing capital of the world. We invite PHP developers everywhere, and of all skill levels, to come learn, network, and hack together with us in the Emerald City at the first Pacific Northwest PHP Conference (PNWPHP).

The goal of the campaign is to raise some of the initial funding needed to generate more interest for the event, presell tickets and even attract sponsors. The conference itself is planned for September 11th and 12th of 2015 there in Seattle, Washington at the Impact Hub coworking space. If you'd like more information about the conference and updates as they come along, be sure to subscribe to their mailing list and consider helping the PHP conference community grow and contribute today!

php[tek] is a PHP conference like no other: it brings together great technology content and great people and mixes them up in a wonderful cocktail of PHP fun. We like to think of php[tek] as a professional conference with a community flair. You will find a high-quality presentations by the brightest experts in the PHP world, coupled with a welcoming and friendly community of attendees and speakers.

On the 7PHP.com site today Khayrette Wasseem has posted the first in a series of "Know Thy PHP Conference" series, is time focusing on PHP South Coast, a conference happening in July (2015) in Portsmouth in the UK.

The post is an interview with James Titcumb, an organizer of the event, talking some about the conference, his experience getting it up and running and some of its goals. He asks questions about:

Some about James' background with the local user group

When the event started

Details about where it will be held

Some of the other people behind the event

How they're looking for sponsors for the event

You can read the full interview for the answers to these and other questions about the conference. You can find out more about the event (and pick up a ticket of your own) from the main conference site.

Cal Evans, PHP community member extraordinaire, has a new post sharing his suggestions of the top five influencers in the PHP community that "make it awesome" and help make it one of the best he's been involved in.

It is no surprise to anyone who has talked to me for more than five minutes that I think the PHP community is the most vibrant and engaging developer community out there. So as we approach the end of the year, I am going to list out the influencers that help keep this community at the top. These are the people that you need to seek out and thank because without them, the PHP community would not be what it is today.

He goes with categories rather than mentioning names (because, really, there's way too many too name them all):

5: Core Developers

4: User Group Leaders

3: Conference Organizers

2: Conference Speakers, Bloggers, and Teachers

1: Any developer using PHP

That last one, while it might seem like an "everyone else" kind of category, is one of the most important in my opinion. After all, what is a language without its users. Core developers and community group/event leaders wouldn't have anything to talk about if no one was there to talk. There would be no one to teach or be taught to and the core developers wouldn't have any reason to drive the language forward. Even if you're not well-known in the PHP community, you and your code are making a contribution to the community, even if only in a small way.

The conference will be happening at its usual spot in Chicago, Illinois and there's "big plans this year to be the biggest best php[tek] ever." If you're interested in the event, check out the the main site or last year's site for more information.

php[architect], organizers of the annual php[tek] conference, have start to post the videos recorded at their 2014 event over on YouTube. Not all of the sessions are published yet, but there's a few to get you started if you missed the event (or just want a refresher):